Group Kicks Against Sale of Ajaokuta Steel Complex

A group, Kogi Elders Forum said it would resist any attempt to sell off the Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi State.

The forum in a statement issued in Lokoja on Wednesday said it would employ constitutional means to stop the sale of the sprawling integrated steel company.

The Chairman of the forum, Dr Julius Elukpo, said its position was in reaction to a statement credited to the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that government intends to sell the company and others to fund the 2018 budget.

Elukpo who described the government’s proposal as a rude shock, chided the Federal Government for foot dragging on the completion of the steel project , saying that the outright sale of the plant should not be of interest of government.

Elukpo said that the forum would make the company a campaign issue for the 2019 election, saying that the people of the state will be mobilized to vote for any presidential candidate that is ready to complete the project.

The statement also decried the state of Federal roads in the state, calling on the Federal Road Maintenance Agency to move in and get them fixed as soon as possible.